The AEGON GB Pro-Series is a calendar of tournaments throughout the year, featuring many of the worlds up and coming players. This week has seen the start of the AEGON GB Pro-Series in Loughborough with Somerset boys James Marsalek and Richard Gabb competing.
Gabb, 6th seed in the Qualifying draw world no.769, sailed through his first match before coming up against 3rd seed Andrew Fitzpatrick in the final qualifying round. Losing a tight first set 6-7 (4), Gabb came back to defeat his opponent convincingly 6-1 6-2 in the second and third sets to gain a place in the main draw. Here, he faced a tough match against France’s Adrian Mannarino (7th seed) but fought well eventually losing 6-1 6-4.
Marsalek, given a wild card into the Main draw and ranked 563th in the world, also had a tough first match meeting the 4th seed Russian, Evgeny Donskoy. Marsalek started off well, winning the first set 6-4. However, the Russian came back hard in the second and third to eventually take the win 4-6 6-4 6-3.
In the doubles, Gabb and partner Ashley Hewitt (Cheshire) drew 1st seeds and fellow Brits Jamie Delgado and Ken Skupski. Gabb and Hewitt brought out amazing performances to bring the match to a tight first set, only just losing out in the tiebreak. This form continued in the second set but Delgado and Skupski edged ahead, eventually winning 7-6 (3) 6-4. Marsalek and partner Darren Walsh (Surrey) also lost in the first round.
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